However, if you’re new to pet ownership or don’t have pets, you might not be all that informed on these parasites or how they operate. Don’t be fooled – even if you don’t have pets, you can still be vulnerable to fleas and ticks. Below, we’ll talk about the differences between the two, how they can infest your home, and what to do about them.
Terrible Ticks
Ticks are a type of parasitic arachnid that feeds on the blood of animals. They love to hide in tall grass, tree branches, brush, and other nooks and crannies you might find in meadows and wooded areas. Ticks prefer to drop on you or crawl up your leg while you’re walking around in areas where they like to hide. Then, they dig into your flesh and suck out a meal while you’re none the wiser.
Ticks can gorge themselves so much they blow up to several times their original size, sometimes feeding for days on animals incapable of removing them. Once they’re completely engorged, ticks drop off to digest and eventually move on to the next host – potentially spreading a plethora of dangerous illnesses like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever while they’re at it.
Fearsome Fleas
Unlike ticks, fleas are insects, so they have six legs instead of eight. Also unlike ticks, fleas are agile, able to leap up to 200 times their own body length. Fleas live on their animal hosts rather than just hopping on, eating, and hopping off. They lay eggs in a dog, cat, and other animal hair and can pass generations on an untreated pet or wild animal. Fleas often like to hide in woodpiles, tall grass, dog houses, and in carpet fibers and fabrics – basically, anywhere they have a good shot at finding a host.
Even if you don’t have pets, you can still get fleas in your house because they can and do feed on humans. While fleas have a hard time living on people because we don’t have much body hair and shower frequently, they can live in the furnishings and flooring of our homes, biting us when we come around them and then slinking back to their hiding spots.
Prevention Practices
Fleas and ticks both feed on blood, but they infest your property in slightly different ways. Ticks prefer to wait for you outside in your yard to get the drop on you when you walk through the grass or under the tree where they’re hiding. Fleas, meanwhile, will live just about anywhere: in your furniture, your bushes, and your pet’s hair. Still, there’s a lot of overlap in the measures you can take to prevent them. Do things like:
- Keep wild animals off your property so they don’t bring their parasites with them
- Wear repellant and/or protective clothing in wooded or grassy areas to avoid picking up ticks and bringing them to your yard
- Vacuum both carpets and furniture frequently to suck up fleas that might be hiding there
- Mow lawns, trim bushes, and keep landscaping as short as possible to reduce flea and tick hiding spots
Unfortunately, even with all these measures, it can be tough to keep fleas and ticks away. They don’t feed on anything but blood, so they don’t have anywhere better to be than biting you. What’s worse, a lot of store-bought treatments are ineffective against these parasites, so you’re going to need professional help.
Here at Aerex Pest Control, we’ve got the tools and experience to put the parasites in their place. Our pest control programs are safe, effective, and are more affordable than a lot of other pest control companies in our area – and the best part is we offer a pest-free guarantee. So give us a call or visit our contact page at Aerex Pest Control and let us put your pests to rest.